The World's Great Speeches: Fourth Enlarged (1999) Edition

The speeches are divided in times and places, it would be easier I think if they where just by speaker.

Preparing an important speech requires an enormous amount of work. Such a speech must in a very short time convince people of what you are trying to communicate. That is why good speeches are so fascinating to read. You will find speeches of almost 250 people on 920 pages. A treasure chest! You can look for different things. For example. There is not a single speech that claims that people should just aim to become rich or can become happy that way. Many speeches refer to happiness linked to virtue and happiness, For example: "There is an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage"; "Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue?" One negative statement on virtue with good intentions: "Punish my sons if they appear to care for riches before virtue". On for example the subject of heart: "The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human humbleness and in human responsibility"; "Reasoning will lead to acting well, justice in mind becomes justice in the heart"; "Let us then , fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind". There is one warning though: "Beware, love of power, and proness to abuse it, can come to dominate the human heart". You can also find a few frightening speeches from Adolf Hitler and Mussolini. But the vast majority are inspiring to read. You can also learn something about what a good speech should be like.

230 speakers, 278 speeches, over 800 pages taken from throughout history. Each speech has a short biographical note that precedes each speaker and offers some insight into why the speech is presented. The introduction to the book offers a number of reasons to read this suggesting that it is a treasure house for public speakers and so on. I found it interesting to see what was picked for the specific authors. When you list all of these mostly well-known and influential individuals in this book the very speeches chosen for the representation make a statement worth thinking about. For example was Socrates really the most eloquent in his speech when condemned to death or what overall outlook on life something that may have been overlooked in this book? Likewise Caesar for all that he did is captured only in his comments about "the treatment of Conspirators". The speeches put a label on those that made them through their inclusion and offer a unique view of history. The book has a lot of surprises. Red Jacket's speech to the chiefs concerning the actions of the white missionaries is a pleasant surprise to find in this list. As expected you find several from Lincoln and Kennedy. Probably not expected by many would be speeches from Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini. The book brings focus to many that we know well and to some that maybe we ought to know better.

This enlarged, revised edition gathers almost three hundred great speeches from nearly every historical era and nation from ancient to modern times, and makes for an outstanding volume. This edition adds fourteen important speeches delivered between 1974-97 and makes for an exciting display of messages.